Points of View
by Moonraker One
Summary: Nicholas Cho, Power Boy, is smack dab in the middle of a massive conspiracy of which he is struggling to piece together who is responsible. The last thing he needs is his employee, Karen Starr, figuring out his secret identity. [Power Girl issue 15 and 16 role reversal scene re-write.]


Points of View  
By Moonraker One 

* * *

Author's Note: This is a quick scene write-up, kind of a role reversal thing, of the scene from the Power Girl comics 15 and 16, where Nicolas Cho discovers Power Girl's secret identity. You can use this as a story prompt if you want, just email me the link so I can read it.

* * *

"He called himself Max," Nicholas Cho said, into the phone. "No, I've never seen him before, but he managed to orchestrate some serious bad boy stuff. I want the J.S.A. on this. We…" Mr. Terrific interrupted with a question. "What? Yes, I'm fine. It's been one of the longest days ever, but…"

At that point, a familiar figure walked in. He recognized the tall, busty blonde immediately, in her three-piece business skirt suit and heels. "I didn't know you got back," she said.

"Hang on Michael," he said. "Karen, I'm on a private call. I'll be with you in a minute."

"Is it even structurally safe to be in here?" Karen Starr asked. After a few moments of waiting for Nicholas to finish his phone call, she folded her arms. "Well, I guess it is…for you."

Nicolas paused his phone call for a moment and looked up at her. He cocked his head in confusion. "Sorry?"

"I'm not an idiot, you know," Karen replied. "Far from it, really. I'm a _genius_. I don't usually throw that kind of bragging around, but I'm pretty peeved at the moment." She paused and took a deep breath. "You know, with the company I work for losing all of its money to an embezzler, with my former employer blackmailing me into hacking government facilities," at this point, her anger began to boil over, "and this _same_ employer thinking I'm brain dead—me, with my four master's degrees and three Ph.D's, and completely unable to put _two and two_ together…"

Nicholas took a deep breath. Where was this going? "Karen, what _are_ you talking about?"

Karen pointed an angry finger at him. "I _know_ that you're Power Boy."

Nicholas almost dropped the phone. Taking a ragged breath, he held it up. "Michael, I'm going to have to call you back." With a click, Karen now had his full attention. "I'm who?"

"You," she replied, "are Power Boy."

"Me?"

"Yes," She said. "You."

A tense moment passed between them.

Nicholas burst out laughing. He wiped a tear. "Where would you get such a crazy…? If I were Power Boy," he replied, "you think I'd be here? Taking crap from bank officials? Going bankrupt?"

"I know you're Power Boy," she replied, "and you're not going to lie to me anymore." She pulled from behind her a gun.

Nicholas froze when he saw the gun. "Karen, put that down."

She did not flinch. "Make me. I know who you are, so…make me."

He put up his hands. "Karen, I know you're upset," he said. "We're all upset about the company going under, but I can fix this, I…"

"I'm going to shoot on three."

He took a breath. "Don't…"

"One."

"Put. It. Down."

"Two."

"Karr-y!"

"Th…" Before she could finish her sentence, he vanished from her viewpoint. "…ree." She looked down and saw the gun was gone.

"That was stupid," he said.

"You're pretty fast for a business exec," she replied.

"Stupid and dangerous," he said. "Why would you ever…" He noticed something weird about the gun. "What is this?"

"A micro particle gatherer," Karen answered.

Nicholas looked at it, bewildered. "It's a _vacuum cleaner_?"

"More or less."

"You were bluffing," Nicholas reaffirmed.

"Yeah."

He leaned in. "Are you high!"

"Not exactly," she said, "but I stole four of Debbie's anti-anxiety pills. I was a little edgy about shaking you down."

"What? You gonna blackmail me?"

This time, she got angry. "Blackmail? No! I just wanted the truth! I thought I was working for a philanthropist, instead I'm part of some superhero's hobby!"

"It's not a hobby," Nicholas protested. "I…"

She threw her arms out to her sides in anger. "Is any of this real? Are we even losing the company or is this just your way of pulling the rip cord now that you're bored of the whole thing!"

"Hey!" He shouted. "I was trying to do some good here! I put everything I had into this, and I don't mean money! And where do you get off judging me?" He pointed at her. "You're a genius and pissed away how much of your life on identity theft and stealing from innocent people?"

She turned away from him in shame. "Yes," she admitted. "I stole. Millions actually. But, just a little from a lot of people. Insurance companies took the hit." She sighed. "But no, none of that makes it better." She stepped over to the hole in the building. "I DID my time. I helped the government stop morons like me for _six years_. And then, when they gave me my life back, I wanted to help. To serve. To make this a better world." She turned around. "And I wind up working for you. A fraud."

He took a sharp breath. "It's not like that."

"You needed some help fighting a _bad guy_ ," she countered, "and when I balk a little your first move was threatening to 'out' me."

He glared at her. "I do what I have to, when I have to."

"And drag us regular people into _your_ mess?" She said. "Can I go? Or will you try to stop me?"

He shook his head. "Good luck, Karr-y," he replied.

She stormed past him. "It's _Karen_."


End file.
